Baldwin lobbies for more Ukiah Police officers

At least one council member expressed strong support for hiring more police officers following a two-hour discussion regarding the city's growing problem with aggressive transients at the last Ukiah City Council meeting.

"We need to get our priorities straight," said Council member Phil Baldwin at the Oct. 17 meeting, pointing to Ukiah Police Department Chief Chris Dewey's statement that the increased workload and escalating violence are causing many of his officers to want to work elsewhere. "If the morale (at the UPD) is decreasing to the point that people are wanting to leave, I think the council has to find the money to hire an additional officer at least.

"If we can find $40,000 for branding the community and developing a Vision Statement, surely we can find $80,000 to $90,000 for a police officer," Baldwin continued. "The evidence is overwhelming that we need more staff."

Much of that evidence was presented earlier in the meeting by Dewey, who said his officers are dealing with two separate populations on the street: homeless and transients.

"The transient population we're finding is much more violent than anything we've encountered in the past," Dewey said, describing the group as people who are typically from out of state or Southern California, who have cars and ways to support themselves but "they like to get things for free and they don't want to work for anything else. They're not interested in long-term assistance or any of the programs offered by the non-profits.

"They're really here because of the marijuana culture," Dewey continued, holding up a sign that had been displayed by one of the transients that included the words "Happy Harvest" and a drawing of a pair of scissors, showing the person was "like a day laborer seeking employment."

Dewey said people seeking trimming jobs often congregate near stores like Ukiah Natural Foods, Safeway and Walmart, and sometimes even the Sun House Park.

"People ask why can't you just park an officer in the Walmart parking lot?" said Dewey. "But I can't assign one more thing to what they're already doing."

Worried about our officers' safety'

"I'm now beginning to be worried about our officers' safety in a way I haven't been before," said Dewey, describing an incident recently where a UPD officer stopped along the railroad tracks near East Gobbi Street to break up a fight between transients and soon became their target. He said the transients grabbed for the officer's weapon and he did not get assistance until a California Highway Patrol officer who happened to be in the area stopped to help.

"I'm having officers say they no longer want to work here and they want to leave the community," said Dewey, adding that the officer involved in the incident he described said "when I get attacked and I'm by myself, I don't want to work here anymore. I want to go somewhere else."

Dewey said he's also concerned about the health and safety of the community.

"These transients aggressively panhandle, and when people feel threatened they give them money just so they'll go away," he said, adding that the group that typically hangs out in the fields near Walmart also defecates across the street in the parking lot between the hotels on Airport Park Boulevard.

"Having people pooping in the bushes between our two best hotels is not a good thing," he said, explaining that while outhouses are not a good option, automated public toilets used in cities like Eugene, Ore., could be considered for Ukiah.

Services being exploited

Dewey said another challenge to overcome is the perception that social services are plentiful and easy to get in Ukiah. In 2005, when the city passed new ordinances against panhandling and camping, Dewey said his officers polled transients about why they were here.

"Many said they came here because they felt Ukiah had a lack of regulations and they could get services here they couldn't get elsewhere," he said, adding that a new wrinkle he just learned about was how some people are exploiting a food assistance program.

"If you come into this county and are indigent for any reason, you can go to Social Services and receive $200 a month for food," he said, explaining that while "you used to actually get food stamps, today they give you an ATM card with $200 loaded on it. While the card can only be used for food products, people will sell those cards for $100, then buy booze or drugs."

Dewey said he would like to see the city start a campaign similar to the one launched in Fort Bragg that declares: "Handouts Aren't Helping."

"If you give them money, you're basically giving them a Budweiser," he said. "Give the money to the non-profits instead."

"I am blown away," said Council member Mari Rodin. "I am really shocked by the amount of violence."

"It sounds like what we really need is more self-deportation," said Council member Benj Thomas. "Is there a way we can make this place less hospitable?"

"We have to make it more uncomfortable," said Dewey, adding that his officers would need to enforce every ordinance as much as possible. "Any time they do anything wrong, we're right there to do an enforcement action. That's what makes it uncomfortable."

City Manager Jane Chambers then asked the council to consider that Dewey and his officers were already stretched to the limit and "we have to look at solutions that aren't government-centric.

"When Chief Dewey first came to me, he found me unusually hostile," Chambers admitted. "I was just concerned about how we were going to talk about this. I don't want to raise the expectation that we can quickly solve this problem. We, and our public, need to be educated."

Chambers estimated that another officer would cost the city at least $105,000, "and we have not yet determined how we can afford that."

"I would hope that within six weeks we can authorize an additional officer to help defend us," Baldwin said.

Justine Frederiksen can be reached at udjjf@pacific.net, on Twitter @JustFrederiksen or at 468-3521.